Sunday, July 14, 2013

Jail Time

Blimey I don't know where the time has gone. I am sitting here hot as hell typing this at midnight and it's annoying me.

I have stuff going on right now that I have no wish to bore people with at this moment in time, so I will just focus on the weekend. It was another scorcher. I did nothing Saturday (just for a change) but following a recent documentary Rob and I watched last week, we bought a 'Magic Bullet' juicer. A pretty impressive little machine that we hope will get some much needed nutrients into my body as I very rarely eat any fruit or vegetables. Since the weekend I seem to have drunk very little else apart from green vegetable sludge smoothies and fruit ones too. I have to confess that the Veggie ones look awful but now we are adding mint, they don't taste that bad. My body won't know what's hit it.

Sunday Rachael and I were back on the abandoned trail and we had a bit of a coup. An old jail we had discovered (through other images and research) was in our sights. It had been on the list for a few months now so we finally checked it out. We honestly thought that (like most of these places) we were going to find the whole place boarded up with no hope of getting in. Imagine our surprise when we found 'a very easy in!' Well I say easy, it would have been a lot easier if I were about 6 stone lighter, but never the less armed with torches ($4.10 dinky ones from a local garage...we were hardly Mulder and Scully), DIY masks, rubber boots, camera bags, tripods a blanket (don't ask) and not looking at all suspicious on a very hot Sunday afternoon we headed inside. My god was it dark in there on the first floor and the smell....I will leave that to your imagination, but thankfully as we worked our way up to levels two and three, the light and the air got much better. We took our shots as quickly as we could and I think I sweated my own body weight in fear. Rachael said I sounded like Darth Vader in my mask! I am not entirely sure my nerves are cut out for this kind of extreme photography hobby!

Relieved to get out, we continued on our way and we found several more houses and points of interest on our travels. In total we did over 5oo km and were knackered today.

That said, today was around 34 degrees I believe and I didn't feel like working all day so I took a rare half day holiday and gave Nancy a ring to see what she was up to, I headed over to hers for a catch up as she has just returned from vacation and we went to the lake to cool off. I spent all afternoon there with her and unfortunately now I am burnt to a crisp. Just hope it goes brown quickly.
No sooner had a returned home a friend from work popped round for a visit and she didn't leave until around 7.30 pm...and here we are! I will leave you with a couple of images from the weekend...
Enjoy!! (click to view larger)

Banged Up...Now that's what I call peeling paint!

Lock up! Scary!


The Old Farmhouse

Welcome to my Country Home...That's what the wallpaper
said inside!


Sunday, July 7, 2013

As Hot as the Gates of Hell

Oh yes my friends, those reading this that are here in the Maritimes will vouch that weather here these past few days has been unbelievably hot. Now there's nothing wrong with some sun, but it's the damn humidity that's killing me. Our sweat box of a house hasn't dropped below 85 degrees all weekend, it's impossible to do anything inside apart from sit and fall asleep within about 10 minutes.
I do believe on Friday it was 31 degrees but with the humidity factored in they were saying on the news that it was feeling more like 41 degrees, and I think they were right.

I took a weekend off back roading and caught up on some much needed sleep. The Canada Day Fireworks that were postponed last week went ahead on Friday night, Rob and I popped along to our usual spot and were joined by Smiffy and Anne (plus a friend of Anne's) to watch the spectacle. I thought they were impressive as always but over too soon.

Saturday evening Rachael, myself and Rob headed out to Hansport area to go and see the folk duo Breeze & Wilson. I don't know if you remember my story from a few weeks ago, but Rachael, Nancy and I had been caught poking around some old trucks down the driveway next to an abandoned house we had found. The owner of the trucks and the house and indeed his own lighthouse at the end of the drive, Raye, was such a nice man, and opened up the house for us to shoot inside, when we returned the keys to him he was hard at work down by his lighthouse building what looked like a pagoda of sorts, he had quite a bit to do on it as he had only really finished the base and it had no roof on it. It transpired he was building it to host this folk duo he had coming to play and that he was selling tickets (only 30 tickets), so Rachael and I bought three and couldn't wait to get back there and enjoy the music and the ambiance of the evening by the lighthouse and the sea. It was a wonderful evening, the music was so good (ending up buying all three cd's), Raye finished his...Pavillion the day before, and what an amazing job he had done. Breeze & Wilson are actually from the Midlands in the UK but have a hard core fan base in Nova Scotia. They sprinkled some humor in between the songs which made the whole event even more enjoyable. They mingled with their audience and Rachael and I chatted with both of them, lovely chaps.

Today, I have done nothing, I drank a few beers last night and was feeling particularly sluggish today. The house was once again as hot as hell, so at around 5.30pm Rob and I headed off to the lake for a dip to cool off. Much better...

I think I should perhaps also mention (especially to my friends back in the UK), I have coloured my hair...Not the usual colours, I have gone bright blond...completely blond, no dark hair whatsoever. I think it has shocked a few here (especially at work), and I suspect if you guys saw it you would be a little shocked too...lol.

Belated birthday wishes go to my firend Kim, hope you had an enjobale day and I hope the new job is panning out well for you.

Canada Day fireworks posponed from last weekend

The Bright Lights of Halifax

Raye's Gorgeous Pavillion/Multi Purpose area :o)

Breeze and Wilson




Monday, July 1, 2013

Happy Canada Day!

It's been a bank holiday weekend here in Canada as the country celebrates Canada Day. Unfortunately this weekend has been a bit of a washout to say the least. I planned to go out on Saturday with Rachael but we ended up postponing until Sunday as torrential rain all day made doing anything a complete waste of time. After our plans had been canceled I went straight back to bed and didn't move until about 3 pm...which was bliss.

Robert and I ordered a new Samsung (front loading) washing machine and tumble dryer a couple weekends ago at Sears, they balls up the delivery last weekend, but thankfully it arrived this Saturday...Not that I had much to do with it, as I was sleeping. The machines are beautiful. So much bigger than the washers and dryers in the UK. They are very hi tech and unbelievably quiet. We figured it was about time we bought rather than keep on renting the cheap and rather crap appliances we had as part of our rental package as it turns out we have paid for the damn things twice over by renting them, and the top loader washing machine with the agitator kept shredding my underwear even on the delicates setting (which they aren't...delicate that is...lol).

Sunday, I was up and out early Rachael, we were determined to get out and about come rain or shine as we took a break last weekend from photography. We had a couple of leads on places we wanted to find, the first was an abandoned textile factory, we located it no problem, what we didn't plan on was bumping into anyone else there. We had been scoping out the perimeter for a while when another car pulled up, we though we might be in trouble, so we pulled out the old map and started our fake pointing & 'oh dear we're lost' routine (badly I might add). Then out of the other car comes a rather glamorous mum a dad and 3 kids, off they go with their iPhones, walking the perimeter...Doing the exact same thing as us and if at all possible looking even more conspicuous than us. we finally got out of our car put on our rubber boots and started walking round with our cameras in the opposite direction until we were face to face with them...they said hello, we said hello and that was that! That's the thing about Urban Exploring, you never know who or what you will find.

After the factory we moved on heading in the general direction of Annapolis Royal, we found another lovely old house on route which a a superb 'falling down' barn behind it as well as a tiny little crooked hut/shed. The owner came and chatted to us for a long time and the little shed was in actual fact his Great Uncle's old workshop where he made harnesses for horses. I found it hard to believe that something so small was a workshop. (Both of these finds you can see below).

After stopping briefly in Annapolis Royal, we headed to our next location, we found the house we had been searching for, pulled on our rubber boots and headed up the very overgrown path to it. The front door had a panel missing at the bottom. Rachael enquires, 'Can you get through there?' to which I reply, 'I don't know, do you think I can get through there?' She says 'yes', so off I go, what transpired was a bit of a mess to say the least. My boobs and I could not manage to get through the opening, my arse was stuck in the air and all I could hear was Rachael laughing. I reversed out and she decided to have a go, with a bit of effort she made it through, I must say I was impressed as at one point it definitely looked doubtful. I ventured round to a side window and chatted to her on the inside while she poked about, but there wasn't that much to see in all honesty and the floor was really rotten and damp, so I urged she come back out...NOW that was funny! She came out backwards, with me hanging on to her legs and guiding them toward the crooked front doorstep, arse in my face, and me then grabbing on to her waistband to ensure she didn't slip. I all but lost what little strength I have in my arms laughing so hard...Honestly if I could have stepped back and watched the entire episode of 'two fat ladies and a hole in a door', it would have made great viewing for sure.

Once back at the car we took off our boots, Rachael had managed to step in something very unpleasant and the whole car stunk. we trundled on our way trying not to breathe too much, and then we heard a knocking sound.
We stopped to investigate and my exhaust pipe had come loose at the back end from its bracket, and was bouncing around. We knew this wasn't good especially as we were at least 2.5hrs away from home. We phoned Rob and he said to try and secure it, so we headed (very slowly) to the nearest garage. having bought some bungy ropes, I approached an older gentleman who was in there paying for his petrol, I asked if he could help and out he came, took a look and said he knew the neighbours behind the garage and would go and see what he could find, he fixed us up when he came back with a coat hanger and some pliers. What a lovely man! All fixed up and no longer in fear of the exhaust dropping off, we decided to check out one more house, sadly it had fallen down, but we did find one other on route, I was just changing my footwear once more when I saw a tick on my leg (I think it had been there for a couple of hours), me being me started shrieking and Rachael had to get off me.

It was the weirdest thing, as I had been talking about ticks to her earlier in the day after reading an article about a woman who had lime disease for 4 years without being diagnosed. In 3 years bumming around Nova Scotia in sports sandals and short trousers I had never given them a thought before, then suddenly I talk about them and get one which made me super paranoid! Rachael found it very amusing...But not so much this morning when she told me that she found three on her today...!
So all in all quite the adventure.

The Barn with the Star Gazing Window :o)

The Old Workshop!

The House with the Hole in the Door!!!!

The Abandoned Factory where we didn't expect Company!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Longest Day

Well hello blog lovers...It's a bit of a short one this week.

I attended the Camera Club on Wednesday as it was the last meeting of the season and it seemed rude not to. There were nibbles and it was the results of the annual contest. As you may know already I do enter this every year with some degree of success, although this year I must say I wasn't feeling it at all with the images I submitted, never the less I am pleased to report I scraped in with  a couple of third places for HDR and Landscape. A bunch of us headed over to Tim's afterwards for a catch up and I didn't get home till around 11 pm.

Rachael and I had a much needed weekend off taking photos this week. I definitely needed to recharge my batteries. Have no fear, weather permitting we will back at it next weekend.

Saturday night Rob and I attended Anne and Smiffy's Summer Solstice BBQ party. The food was incredible! There was a definite Brit Pack presence, The amount of Expats absolutely outnumbered Canadians. We got to meet some some new faces, Chris and Kath who have literally just landed a week ago, good luck to them for the future and Julie and Paul who have been landed since last September who are finding settling here a bit of a struggle especially employment wise and financially...As I think we all did and do. It will get better honestly! Some of the other faces, I had met before when we went bowling the last time for Smiffy's Birthday. It was very nice to see them all again.

I find it incredible to think how many Brits have moved and are moving over here. There seems to be so many of us now. But lets face it the lure of the scenery and the ocean on your doorstep is pretty hard to resist...If it wasn't for the bloody long Winter it would be perfect!

Until next time here are some more images from my back road adventures in recent weeks:


Beauty & the Blossom

Canadian Pacific


Rural Beauty






Sunday, June 16, 2013

You Meet the Nicest People

My word this week has been a long one, it's seems like two since I was sat here updating.

The weather has been all over the place this week but mainly rainy. Judging by peoples moods the weather is really getting them down and everyone is ready for a good spell ot nice weather. Thankfully the rainy cluttered off (most likely over to England) in time for the weekend.

Nancy, Rachael and I went out on Saturday to see what we could find in the way of photographic subjects. I particularly wanted to pay a visit to Hantsport Railway Station which is not long in service and from an article I had read a bit overgrown, it proved to be a very good location and we spent a long time pottering about there.

Afterwards we headed along the Evangeline trail to see what else we could find, I spotted an abandoned property on the side of the road which we promptly investigated, it was locked, but the road/driveway made us think there was more to find, a neighbour told us to go ahead and didn't think the owner would mind. A few yards down we found some classic old trucks which we were overjoyed to photograph, having been there for a few minutes a truck pulled up with the owner in it. What a lovely man Raye, he didn't mind us being there at all and even went off to open up the old house for us. He said when we were finished in the house to come down to the end of the road and see the lighthouse.

The lighthouse in question turned out to be what was originally the Horton Head Lighthouse. The original lighthouse was demolished and burned on beach, but Raye has rebuilt a new one true in shape, to the original, but this one has all mod cons and is actually his cottage. I want to live in it.
He showed us round, it's really is a beautiful spot with a fantastic view across the water.

This man is a seriously talented craftsman in my book, when we interrupted him he was busy building a bandstand, it looks stunning even though it wasn't finished and it transpired it was for an event he was holding on the property in 2 weeks time, he has an English folk duo coming to play, Instantly I wanted to attend, and luckily he had some tickets left (there are only 30 for sale), so Rob, Rachael and I will be heading back there at the beginning of July for an initimate eveing of song...and I cannot wait.

Reluctantly we left Raye's place and headed on to Grand Pre. it's that time of year once again when my favourite art installation goes up. (You remember the doors!) The artist Nicole contacted me earlier in the week to tell me the new one was up...But it wasn't doors....What could it be, well it pictured below and is called 'Mercury Rising'. They took an old Ford Mercury, cut it up, and repainted it a vibrant yellow and then reassembled some of the parts and mounted them on a mirrored plinth to create the illusion of it floating. I love it personally, but I know many people will miss the doors (myself included as it's an end of superb series). At long last I finally got to meet Nicole, Since 2010 I have met her partner, her daughter, even the cat, but she has never been in. It was great to finally catch up with her. She is as much a fan of my work as I am of hers, and I have given her my images of her art for various projects. When she is not creating unusual art pieces she is a chocolatier, and she presented me with a beautiful box of truffles she made for me. She also invited Robert and I to come for dinner one evening which will be very nice as I didn't much time with her as the family had to rush off to attend a prior engagement.

So all in all a fab day, and in Nove Scotia you really do meet the nicest people on your travels. Below are a selection of images taken yesterday.

Spare Parts & Broken Hearts

Mercury Rising

Broken




Horton Lighthouse...AKA The Cottage

The Window Seat








Sunday, June 9, 2013

Just a Quickie

After what seemed like a very long week, especially with inventory/stock taking on Friday night after work, I was definitely looking forward to a rest and some more photographic adventures.

Thanks to the tail and of tropical storm Andrea, Saturday was a waste of time weather wise, nothing but torrential rain and wind all day...I spent most of it in bed.

Today the weather was much better, it was mild and cloudy but no rain, so Rachael and I once again took to the back roads, this time around the South Shore in search of abandonment. We definitely had a couple of good finds and a few average ones. Robert came with us today and drove, which was nice, not only for us but for him as well, as it's been so long since he has been out anywhere due to his 'on call' rota and his revising. We left at 8 am this morning and return around 7.30 pm this evening, we have wandered and poked about in the smelliest of houses today and marched our way through a bog to get to a great little house on a hill and best of all the $18 bug spray we bought last weekend actually worked and we didn't get bitten, although I do feel like I have caught lice from one of the places...just kidding...but seriously that place made me itch.

Lost in Translation Continued...

I used the phrase 'you're a dark horse aren't you' this week at work and found out that this was yet another expression that doesn't translate! I am trying to note these as they happen as I find it highly amusing.

Abandoned Mill

Two Rooms...This one didn't smell
Mind the Gap :o)







Sunday, June 2, 2013

And the Sun Came Out!

Yes indeed, it's been hot for the last three days here, I went from wearing a cardigan on Monday to sweating like I don't know what on Friday! All the foliage is super green now and looks so new and fresh everywhere.

I haven't really done much to write about this week other than going out yesterday with Rachael on a long old drive around one of my favourite areas (Pugwash and Oxford) for hunting down abandoned stuff. We visited a few old favourites of mine and sadly the search for new spots was a bit of a non event, we found a few but they didn't totally inspire me. However, we do have 3 leads to follow up for next weekend though, which could prove to be good one IF we can find them. Our trip took much longer than intended as I think we confused the sat nav and even though it only took about two and a half hours to get to our first destination, coming back it took us along every back road imaginable, a sum total of 6 hours...we left at 8 am in the morning at eventually got back at around 10.30 pm last night. As you can imagine I needed a long sleep to recover today :o)

You can tell the warmer weather has arrived as my garden lights have come out of hiding, the lawn has been cut (more than once now) and my lupins are just about to bloom. The garden (yard) such as it is, is looking quite tidy and pretty right now.

The cats and I are over heating the air conditioning unit is back in the bedroom after only a couple of days of hot weather the place is like a furnace upstairs and there is an obscene amount of cat fur everywhere.

Apparently we are due for a bug infestation in June...Joy! Cicadas live underground for 13 to 17 years, and then surface to reproduce and die. They come up annually, but this year scientists are predicting a bumper crop. Can't honestly say I am looking forward to seeing them, they are large bug eyed flying critters that on mass when sounding their mating calls sound like hissing cockroaches.

Two Barns and a Pump


House on the Hill...An Old Favourite Place Revisited


Two Chairs, a neat little find from last weekend
 

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